Improved method of uniting iron and steel



-pi'ate of the right size and shape and punchproof safes, to the end that the prepared parts shall be in merchantable condition as ready- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WA A L WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED. METHOD OF U Specification forming part of Letters P To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM TERWILLI- GER, WILLIAM H. TERWILLIGER, and JOHN S. LOOKWOOD, (constituting the firm of TER- WILLIGER&O0.,) of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in the preparation and construction of the materials and the parts of burglarmade safes, requiring only to be put together, and be, when so put together, invulnerable to the ordinary tools of a burglar; and we hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

Our purpose is to unite iron and steel plates by a perfect union superior to common welding, and of these, while hot, to shape all the parts of the designed safe according to established dimensions of the respective numbers, to punch all holes, to flatten and render the plates true, to protect the iron, and toharden the steel, so that the part thus made will be finished and perfect.

In ordinary steel-clad safes the hardened steel can be broken and the soft iron laid bare, and the safe. is no longer burglar-proof. In our process of preparation we weld the plate of steel upon the plate of iron by a perfect union, as the steel is put upon the face of a sledge-hammer. Our welding composition is necessary to this perfection. It is thus made: We take equal parts of borax and saltpeter and grind them fine in alcohol, spirits turpentine, benzine, or oil to the consistency of cream, and cook it by boiling thoroughly in a close vessel. This paint we lay on with a brush to the surfaces of iron and steel which are to be united. It will dryimmediately and the paint will adhere. We then rivettogether the corners of the plates and put them in the furnace to heat, making the plates a little thicker say an eighth-than they are destined to be ultimately. When the plates are heated to 1500 Fahrenheit, or thereabout, but not up to welding-heat, we take them out and pass them between rollers, pressing a weight of, say, ten tons, and repeatedly rolling them, reducing to the proper thickness, and then cutting the NITING IRON AND STEEL.

atent No. 56,680, dated July 24, 1866.

ing all holes required, and then straightening and flattening it,- aud then hardening by the direct application of ice'on both sides at once.

As it will sometimes warp in hardening, this must be provided for. The thickness of the steel and its character considered, the plate must be, while hot, warped in the reverse direction, so that it will become flat on cooling with the ice or water. To do all this it may have to be reheated in the furnace, or to be kept hot while worked upon.

This mode of chemically identifying the plates renders them superior to anything prepared by old methods. This, as one of the constructed parts, is now ready for use as a panel, whether for interior or exterior case.

The same process is used for making the stiles or corners. They are bent and punched and hardened and finished ready for use as angle-irons. Rivets proper to unite them are also made, ready for use, and should be of steel. These plates are put best with the steel face out; but either way will do.

The case may be made with the plates or panels abutting at the corners or meeting in a miter. In such case they are secured by angle-iron from the inside. To do this holes are drilled through the iron of the panels, reaching to the steel. Headed rivets are put in the holes, and the holes closed round the body of the rivet by swaging, leaving the rivet standing out from theiron face ofthe plate. Then, holes being made in the angle iron, the plates are riveted to it on the inside, so that on the outside no rivet will appear.

It is sometimes desirable to economize the steel, using but little of it. In this case it is best put between two plates of iron to be chemically identified in the manner above described. Or it may be desirable to make the plates of extra strength. In this case aplate of iron is placed between two plates of steel, the corners riveted together, and the plates chemically identified, as 'above described. Then, while hot, they are outto shape, the holes punched, the surface protected from rust, and the steel hardened.

The weld can be effected in the ordinary way; but it weakens the steel and oxidizes and wastes much of both iron and steel, and by ascertained sizes of the various required degrees of strength.

The framethat is, the corners of angleironof the ordinary shapethat is, ofiron and steel plates welded by this process and then punched and bent to the angleis first put together. The door and hinges are all thus pre paredthe door for each size and quality of safe, made complete with its lock and hung upon the frame to which it fits, constituting the front of the safe. All the parts being thus complete, it is ready for transportation in pieces that can be got into abuilding without great cost and trouble, and that can be taken to regions where there is no railroad by ordinary teams, and this may be the interior part or the exterior, or .both, made to receive between their walls the fireproofing composition. When the parts of the safe are thus taken to their destination and into the very room where the safe is required the safe is put together by any person.

The rivets should be of steel with a strong head. The rivet-holes are countersunk upon the outside. The safe is set up and held by temporary screw-bolts, and then the rivets are heated to a white heat and put in the holes from the inside and riveted as a boiler is riveted. This being done quickly, the outside of the rivet is cooled by ice and hardened. The whole safe is securely put together in that way, one person being inside and one outside to rivet. Thus constructed a safe is practically invulnerable to burglars tools.

In carrying on such a business largely and with proper machinery the panels could be cut to size and punched at a blow while hot.

of all the parts, including the steel rivets.

The cutting and punching would naturally be done by a pair of rollers-the last of the series that made the weld.

That we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The welded combination of iron and steel plates to make the shell of a safe for safety against burglarious attacks.

2. The process of welding iron and steel plates by use of the composition of borax and saltpeter, in paint form, laid on the surfaces to be united, heated not above 1500 Fahrenheit, and rolled with great pressure, to make the best weld possible in the materials for burglar-proof safes.

3. Interposing a steel plate between two iron plates with the use of the welding composition and process above described, to make economical materials for burglar-proof safes.

4. Interposing a plate of iron between two plates of steel with the use of the welding composition and process above described, to make the strongest and best materials for burglar-proof safes.

5. Constructing and preparing the materials for a burglarproof safe by rolling and punching while hot, so that the parts of it can be put together after transportation, in the manner described.

6. Making aburglar-proof safe in mutuallyfitting parts, and numbered, so that from a stock of the materials on hand a safe of the desired sizeand strength could be put together in a few minutes, in the manner described.

WILLIAM TERWILLIGER. W. H. TERWILLIGER. JOHN S. LOOKWOOD.

Witnesses:

JAMES PRIoE, OWEN G. WARREN. 

